Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Top 10 Photos of 2010

I started off by pasting some of my favorite images from 2010, deciding to narrow it down later.

I counted and there were 21 pics.

So I started to delete some and ended up with 26 because I found some more I just couldn't leave out.

So I deleted again and ended up with 24 because I'm a really bad editor and a hoarder.

But fearing an intervention I trimmed once again and have settled on my top 20.
Sorry, that's as short as I can make the list.

Please read through to the bottom. I need your input!

This pic was taken last January at Little Cabin in the Woods. T&J's first experience in the snow left them both happy and sometimes scared and very cold! I love this picture as it was their very first time on a sled. They are both smiling at the thrill of it all, and I am too!

How can you not smile when you see Tess's hair and enjoy that smile just behind the chain. The simplicity of the black and white image makes it even better for me. There's something about the depth of focus only really getting the chain in focus, that I love too.

Rarely do I have all 6 kiddos in one place at one time. The way the winter background is so without color and all greys and black, contrasting with the kiddos that are really the only colors, is striking to me. And the fact that they are all touching one another give me butterflies too.

I couldn't leave out my PW contest runner-up! And this is the link to the original blog post. I was just amazed when this picture made the finals of The Pioneer Woman, and the whole house followed the contest for many days. It's also the very first time I have ever won anything, a $75 gift card, for a photograph.

I think this might be one of my top 2 images of Tess... ever. The black and white makes it so simple for my heart to see her. The lighting is divine and those lashes don't hurt none! It was taken this summer in my in-laws back yard when the kiddos were enjoying some water play.

This photo just makes me chuckle! Patch caught 2 enormous bull frogs this summer, and this monster was his first. It was one of the many creatures treasures that he brought me this summer, including snakes, bugs, and rats, most of which I documented in photos. The joys of being a mama to boys! I took this picture through a screen, and there is an interesting texture in it. Amazingly, there is no Photoshop on this image.

I think this is my all-time favorite image and Papa and me. Maybe because of the depth of focus, so I'm not in focus, and he is! But it seems to capture how he still makes me feel after 27 years together. Safe and happy and blessed.

Patch and I had such a wonderful time taking pictures of the many mushrooms that sprouted this summer at Little Cabin in the Woods. It was wonderful mother-son bonding time, the stuff summers are made of. I really love the way you can't really tell what this picture is at first. I like things that make you think.

I know that this one isn't in crisp focus, but it still makes me croon. This image of my friend's daughter, Bonnie, on her 6th birthday is the kind of picture I want of my kiddos.

Doesn't she just look mesmerized by her mama lighting the candles? Oh to be 6 years old again!

Livy loved the camera this year. Finally seeing how utterly gorgeous she is and asking many times to have her photograph taken. As a result, there are many gorgeous images of her this year! Lucky me! This is one of the first that she looked at and said, Oh mama, I look pretty. Never forget how beautiful you are, baby girl!

Adam was a pill to photograph, but then again, 16 year old boys are suppose to be a pill, right? Can't say I blame him either! His mama, our cousin, had a good talkin' to with him and he accommodated me. This image of him captures so well who he is... adventurous, fearless, and full of style. Thank you, Adam.

Maybe it's the way the he is concentrating so very hard yet his paper is upside down. Or his pencil grip just so. Or the chocolaty tones. Or his little lashes poking through. But this image of Jude is just divine to me. Just the way I think of him.

It this picture I can tell you exactly what I love about it... Patch's blue eye piercing through. Of the 6, he's my only blue-eyed child. The bright colors are so Patch. I love this kid so so much!

(Even though today he turned 20 minutes of homework into 2 hours and is on my bad list.)

So when did pregnant look so darn pretty? Sometimes you can see how awesome a pic is going to be through the lens when you are taking it, and this one was just like that. I came home and started editing it right away. Hard to believe she was only about 10 days away from delivering!

Anyone else have hens 'n chickens? When I was a child I was captivated by the name of this plant. As an adult I'm still captivated by it and how they grow so tightly together and how pretty they are. I love the green tones with the bits of purple tips. This was in a planter in my papa's front yard.

I'm a girl still smitten with my own father! What can I say? He has had that mustache since he graduated from high school. And as a fireman, it was mighty appropriate! I only took one picture of him on this occasion and was so so thankful that not only did it turn out, but it turned out well.

This one one of my last images of 2010. My niece just after her 12th birthday. Her mama decided not to brush her hair, and I'm so glad she didn't. Her eyes are to die for! I don't remember 12 looking so pretty! I remember it all knock-kneed, buck toothed, awkward and geeky! KT, you're gorgeous!

So here's the part of the blog where I need input.

New thoughts for 2011. I'm thinking of having a having a monthly photo contest here on Ordinary Miracles and the Crazy 8. What do you think? If we could have at least 10 entries, I think it would be so so fun to look through photos of other people's work and pick a winner. Entries would NOT need to be professional, (not sure any professional would have any interest here in Crazy Land anyway!) and it would be encouraged that all levels of photographers enter. Maybe I could hunt up a little white elephant gift as a prize. The best part is the inspiration that comes from looking at other people photos and seeing how everyone interprets a common theme. Would you enter a photo contest here?

8 comments:

perfect post at the perfect time. if i were to say any type of picture were missing, it would be sports photography, and i only say that because of my motive here. how would you feel about taking pictures at bike races?

I was hard to pick a favorite, but I'm leaning toward the birthday candle shot -- I love how her eyes are following the hand's every move, making sure each candle is properly lit. But your more artsy photos are gorgeous (the lighting in the field with Lily and the pregnancy shot...simply gorgeous!).

I would like to enter your contests. My pics are not nearly as good as yours. I have no photoshop or any other great editing tools and my camera is pretty cheap and ordinary but I try what I can! :) It would be fun just to see other's ideas and works of art and have a place to have others see mine.

4 yrs - the average time a child spends in American foster care before being adopted

1.5 million children live in public care in Central and Eastern Europe

12.4 million orphans live in Latin America and the Carribean

43.4 million orphans live in sub-Saharan Africa

87.6 million orphans live in Asia

16 million children were orphaned in 2003

Every 14 seconds a child is orphaned as a result of AIDS

400,000+ children in the American Foster Care in 2011

20,000+ young people "age out" of the U.S. foster care system each year. Of these only a little over half will earn a high school diploma.

147 million orphans in the world

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT...

"Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness. Kindness in your face. Kindness in your eyes. Kindness in your smile." ~Mother Teresa

The content of this blog, including photographs, are the property of the blog owner, the crazy mama herself, and may not be copied or reposted without permission. Please contact me if you would like permission to use a photograph or copy text. I'm more than happy to share, but I'd just like to know first. nancyvnjourney@hotmail.com